Charter of Breath (En)

1. All of us as living beings have the natural right to breathe clean air, and the duty to conserve and preserve it, for ourselves and for future generations.
2. Breath, as the source of life, is our most precious resource. It is a gift that remains with us at all times, our first and final act: we start by ‘taking’, we end up by ‘giving’. In every life, the inventory of breaths taken and released is always balanced.
3. The possibility of breathing, the need and the ability to do so make us all equal, from the very first moments of life: air and breath are a legacy that cannot be accumulated, and that can never be denied or taken from anyone.
4. Every living thing breathes. Each single cell of each being needs air, lives thanks to it and is thus in symbiosis with all the other cells in a single organism. And the same is true for all of us, connected by virtue of breath with all other beings and with the whole of Nature, which we are part of.
5. Breathing is our closest, most profound and most deeply rooted link with the planet that hosts us. Altering biodiversity, undermining and destroying the balance of the biosphere jeopardises our survival, that of individual human beings, of mankind as a whole and of other species.
6. Breathing, an automatic and involuntary act, is the permanent form of relationship between our inner world and everything that surrounds us. It affects emotions, mood, relations, and health. The more consciously we breathe, the more actively responsible we are for our physical and mental well-being, for our inner balance, for peace within ourselves and with others.
7. Voice and silence are breath’s forms of expression. Listening, exploring and inhabiting our breath, while refining our capacity of listening to others breathing and to Nature doing so, help understanding, empathy, communication and solidarity. Knowing and respecting breath, both individual and collective, is a powerful antidote to fear, narrow-mindedness and separation, between ourselves and all other living creatures, whatever their condition and wherever they are in the world.
8. Each individual has a unique, original and unmistakable way of breathing, which is the fruit of their personal, family and social history. In-depth listening to breath, while allowing it to tell its story, is a way of getting to know oneself fully and of relating to Others.

Translation by Peter Mead

© La città di Isaura, Association for the joy of reading

© Emi Curatolo, Photography